Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here, and sign up for The Amplifier, a twice-weekly guide to new and old songs.
Chappell Roan, ‘The Giver’
Chappell Roan provocatively but persuasively dons country-queen drag on “The Giver,” her first single in nearly a year, which she previewed on a November episode of “Saturday Night Live.” Driven by a boot-stomping beat and heavily embroidered with fiddles and banjos, the track is a vividly rendered throwback to country’s ’90s pop crossover moment — think Shania Twain and the Chicks — though its cheeky lyrics (full of queer innuendo) frame 21st-century bro-country in its cross hairs. “Ain’t no country boy quitter,” Roan winks at a love interest on a rollicking, shout-along chorus that centers female pleasure. “I get the job done.” “The Giver” feels like the beginning of the self-assured second chapter of Roan’s stardom, since her previous smashes were all sleeper hits that crawled up the charts long after their initial release. But here she’s stepping confidently into an expectant spotlight, unbowed by the pressure and ready to fulfill the song’s promise: “Baby, I deliver.” LINDSAY ZOLADZ
Haim, ‘Relationships’
The Haim sisters, who haven’t released an album since 2020, juggle cynicism and connection in a new single, “Relationships.” The backup is steady-chugging midtempo R&B, with cushy piano chords and a firm backbeat; the lyrics pile on the ambivalence. The sisters ask, “Don’t they end up all the same? When there’s no one left to blame?” Seconds later they admit, “I think I’m in love but I can’t stand [expletive] relationships.” Consider it an update of Samuel Johnson’s line about a second marriage: “a triumph of hope over experience.” JON PARELES
Playboy Carti featuring Kendrick Lamar, ‘Good Credit’
Playboi Carti has optimized hip-hop for the splintered-attention era of streaming and TikTok. He releases a barrage of one-off singles and features, slinging high-impact sounds and percussive, seconds-long phrases in unpredictable voices. Meanwhile, he’s been working on “I Am Music,” his first full-length album — a 30-track marathon — since “Whole Lotta Red” in 2020. Among the guests is Kendrick Lamar, who shows up on “Good Credit” to anoint “Carti my evil twin.” Lamar raps about his own un-gimmicky integrity and success: “The numbers is nothing, the money is nothing / I really been him, I promise.” Carti’s boasts are more scattershot — women, dangerous associates, drugs — and one is undeniable: “I got too many flows.” PARELES
Bon Iver featuring Danielle Haim, ‘If Only I Could Wait’
Doubts and yearning — and electronics and distortion — threaten to overcome Justin Vernon, who performs as Bon Iver, in “If Only I Could Wait” from his coming album, “Sable, Fable.” He wonders, “Can I incur the weight? / Am I really this afraid now?” in one of his majestically hymn-like melodies — a melody that’s set atop edgy electronic drums and interrupted by stray guitar lines. Danielle Haim arrives with companionship and sympathy: “I know that it’s hard to keep holding, keep holding strong.” But their verses and vocal lines collide. By the time they find harmony, they conclude they’re “best alone,” more bereft than before. PARELES
Willie Nelson featuring Rodney Crowell, ‘Oh What a Beautiful World’
Willie Nelson’s next album, due April 25, is filled with songs from the catalog of Rodney Crowell, who joins him for a duet on the title track: “Oh What a Beautiful World.” It’s an easygoing, well-traveled reflection on life’s ups and downs — “It’s a walk in the park, or a shot in the dark” — delivered with Nelson’s grizzled, kindly mixture of acceptance and tenacity. PARELES
Joy Oladokun, ‘All My Time’
Joy Oladakun reassures a distant lover that “Even when I’m miles away, my watch is set to wherever you are” and promises to share “this mortal roller-coaster ride / braiding your sweet dreams with mine.” The rhythm-guitar groove is muted but upbeat — a road song that’s cruising along — and as a watch ticks away the moments apart, her voice sounds more than eager for the reunion. PARELES
Matt Berninger, ‘Bonnet of Pins’
Matt Berninger doesn’t make a radical departure from the sound of his longtime band, the National, on “Bonnet of Pins” from his second solo album; it’s robust folk-rock with orchestral backup. Berninger’s producer and songwriting collaborator, Sean O’Brien, has also worked on the National’s albums. “Bonnet of Pins” sketches an awkward encounter with an ex; “I thought I’d find you much quicker than this,” she says, after finishing his drink. “You must’ve thought I didn’t exist — poor you, I do.” What happens next goes untold, but the guitar hook sounds confident. PARELES
Davido, ‘Be There Still’
The Nigerian songwriter Davido flaunts his success and digs in for more on “Be There Still.” He boasts, “12 years, I’m still on top” and predicts, “Fast forward, no rewind.” The production (by Marvey Muzique and Black Culture from Nigeria, and DJ Maphorisa from South Africa) fuses South African amapiano, Nigerian Afrobeats and tendrils of Congolese guitar — more proof of Davido’s ever-expanding outreach. PARELES
Circuit des Yeux, ‘Truth’
Haley Fohr, the songwriter behind Circuit des Yeux, chants, “Truth is just imagination of the mind.” Whatever that signifies is secondary to the drone and groove set up by Fohr and her producer, Andrew Broder, abetted by the deep funk bassist Melvin Gibbs. One repeated note and a welter of organ chords, percussion, scratching, guitar licks and bass riffing make for a rhythm track that won’t be denied. PARELES
Thanya Iyer, ‘I Am Here Now’
In a track that radiates serenity, the Canadian musician Thanya Iyer intones, “I am here now in my body / Let me be free.” With an unhurried pulse, a subtly droning backdrop, a forest of rustling percussion and hints of Indian inflections rippling across vocals, flute, violin and saxophone, it’s a five-minute haven of wellness. PARELES
The post Chappell Roan’s Bro-Country Tweak and 9 More New Songs appeared first on New York Times.
